Collecting Butter Wrappers Could Save You Money

Saving butter wrappers might sound crazy. But then again, raise your hand if you love saving money. Keep your hand raised if you have butter in your refrigerator. (Life with butter is truly better than a butterless existence!) If your hand is still up, saving butter wrappers is a neat little trick that can earn you some extra dough in the long run. Let us explain.

Butter wrappers still have butter on them even if you can't see it; you can tell by the greasy feel of the packaging that there's definitely some spread left. So instead of tossing them in the garbage, store them in a plastic bag in your freezer so you can use them again. As it turns out, there are plenty of ways to reuse butter wrappers.

Not sure how to grease a pan? Use a butter wrapper!

Instead of dirtying your hands wiping butter on the side of your cake pan or wasting a paper towel to rub nonstick spray on your cookware, simply take a butter wrapper from the freezer and run it across the bottom and side of your pan. You'll have a buttered pan — and clean hands!

And just as you can use a butter wrapper to grease your pans, you can also use a butter wrapper to lightly oil your skillet. If you're sautéeing vegetables, you'll have a thin layer of delicious butter that will brown your produce perfectly.

Heck, you can even grease your cake knife! We know cakes are meant to be eaten, but there's something sad about trying to cut a pretty slice only to mess up the rest of the cake in the process. If you want to cleanly cut your cake, rub a butter wrapper on your knife before serving.

Pro-tip: If you know you're going to be doing a lot of greasing, take out some wrappers from the plastic bag in the freezer and let them thaw. Butter wrappers will warm up due to the heat from your hand and the friction of rubbing the wrapper, so it's not a big deal if you forget to take them out of the freezer early. That said, why not make things easier for yourself? When you rub the thawed butter wrapper on the pan, it'll glide on smoothly and effortlessly.

A butter wrapper is the key to mess-free Rice Krispies Treats.

Rice Krispies Treats are a much-loved snack, but preparing them can get quite messy. Instead of leaving sticky prints all over the kitchen, simply grab the Rice Krispies and marshmallow mix from the pan with the butter wrapper. The oils in the butter will ensure that the cereal doesn't stick to your hands so you can easily pack this crunchy, crispy treat into a mold to cool.

If you're not a fan of your food sticking together, you can also use butter wrappers to separate your frozen hamburger patties. The next time you have hamburger patty leftovers — or any baked good for that matter — simply separate them with butter wrappers. Then, you can easily pull them apart the next time you fire up the grill. Trust us: Your nails will thank you now that you no longer have to pry frozen patties apart.

Stop melting butter to brush on your rolls.

The sweet hint of butter on steaming hot rolls is hard to beat, but don't you hate melting too much butter and wondering what to do with the excess? Take your frozen butter wrappers and lay them over your bread the next time you bake a batch. The steam wafting of your soft bread will melt the perfect amount of butter on the wrapper.

You can even use this trick to butter your corn! Let's face it, trying to spread butter on your corn is a nearly impossible task. Once the pat starts melting, the butter slips and slides its way off the cob and onto your hands. So annoying! Instead, take your butter wrapper and give your ear of corn a good rubdown. Pretty a-maize-ing, right?

Are butter wrappers compostable? What can I do with them when I'm done?

Now that you've built up a collection of wrappers, you may be asking yourself, "Can I compost butter wrappers?" The short answer is maybe. When it comes to what you can compost, butter wrappers aren't something you should toss in without thinking. Some sheets are actually lined with plastic, which means you're better off just throwing them in the garbage. Aluminum is another surprising butter wrapper material that shouldn't be composted.

Fortunately, there's an eco-friendly way to recycle foil butter wrappers: The next time you plan to serve baked potatoes for dinner, wrap your pre-baked spuds in aluminum foil-lined butter wrappers. Or use them to cover your chicken while it bakes to ensure a moist and tender bird.

If your butter wrappers don't have measurements on them, use them to wrap your homemade candies and small baked goods. Tie them with a festive piece of ribbon and they'll make the perfect Christmas gift. Do you have a fire pit out back? Gather up your used wrappers and add them to your bonfire. Then you don't have to worry about clean-up!

There are so many ways to get used butter wrappers that it seems insane that we ever threw them out in the first place. Is there a method that wasn't mentioned that you use with your saved butter wrappers?